"people of the north have a highly evolved physiology that makes them well suited to life in the arctic: a compact build that conserves warmth, a faster metabolism, optimally distributed body fat, and special modifications to the circulatory system." -- internet :)

also, they eat mostly raw or kind of raw forms of meat, cooking meat destroys many of the vitamins that are in it. and as Thomas mentions above, organs of caribou and skin of beluga has Vitamin C in it too.

Although the Inuit diet is very high in protean and fat from the animals that they eat, they do also eat plants. The Inuit do not traditionaly cultivate plants but they do collect and eat a variety of grasses, roots, tubers, berries and seaweed when these are available. Red and brown seaweeds are a good source of vitamin C.

When I first started working with birds of prey, a hawk was brought to me in very bad shape. Part of the problem was the diet the person who found her had been trying to keep her on. It was muscule meat, mainly beef. To correct the problem I started feeding her whole animals. At first she ate mainly the heads and entrails. Her diet problems were corrected in days. I believe the Inuit eat almost the entire animal as well.

I understand that traditionally, the Inuit did not cook their meat, but left it to ferment until it was tender enough to eat. (By most other people's standards, it was seriously rotten, but having been brought up on such a diet, they had no problem with it.) The bacteria on the fermented meat provided many of the vitamins that we get from vegetables.

I recall that an experiment about this very question was carried out in the 1930s(?). The experimenter ate a diet of meat and fat only for one year, and thrived. When he varied the experiement, and omitted the fat, he became quite ill.

I probably read this on the internet, so I can't vouch for its veracity... :-)

I recently stayed for a few months in an Inupiaq village, and was informed that the stomach contents of Caribou was considered a delicacy, eaten whilst butchering the animal. Whether or not this would be a significant vitamin source, I'm not certain.

Many seaweeds (red dulce, laver, ulva lactuca etc.) are good sources of vitamins and minerals. Spuce cones, salmon berries, and both buds and bark of the dwarf arctic birch also have abundant Vit. C. Seal liver also contains Both Vit.s A & C. although excess Vit. A consumption can be problematic. Rose hips, sorrel and dock (and leafy greens in general) would also be utilized, esp. in the southern habitation ranges of the Inuit.

The traditional diet of Inuit includes meat from marine mammals such as seals, walrus and whales; all these contain all the nutrients necessary for human existence in the Arctic, including Vitamin C . The fact is that sailors of the British Navy exploring the Arctic a century ago subsisted on an inferior diet of salt beef and hardtack - a diet which caused starvation, disease, and scurvy. The Admiralty diet killed them.

The Inuit diet now still includes seal and whale meat for its healthful nutrient-rich benefit, when obtainable; however the white man's diet has brought with it the diseases that plague Noth America: obesity and diabetes.

Traditional Inuit also eat the stomach contents of reindeer, which is rich in vitamin C. This is regarded as a special delicacy. Inuit are also very fond of berries, and in some areas people eat algae from the sea.

That Inuit indeed know and value vegetables can also be seen in their language. There are separate words to describe meat from fish, seal, and whale. Meat from land animals, on the contrary, is regarded as "vegetables".

Vilhjalmur Stefansson was a famous 20th century polar explorer. In 1928 he engaged in an experiment based on his Arctic experiences: for one year, under strictly controlled conditions, Stefansson and an associate ate nothing but meat. Their diet contained steaks (muscle tissue), marrow, and organs including liver. They remained healthy throughout, and showed no sign of scurvy.

Stefansson's report on this experiment, published in Harper's magazine in 1935, is very enlightening, and well worth reading even today.

The argument that Inuit have a different physiology is given the lie by Stefansson and his colleague, both of whom were born and bred on a western diet.

Further, there are many areas of the Arctic where nothing grows at all, not berries, nor forage for caribou. The only thing for humans to eat is fish and marine mammals -- meat.

That humans can live healthily for extended periods with absolutely no fruits or vegetables shows that our current state of knowledge about diet is sadly lacking.

"In fact, all it takes to ward off scurvy is a daily dose of 10 milligrams, says Karen Fediuk, a consulting dietitian and former graduate student of Harriet Kuhnlein?s who did her master?s thesis on vitamin C. (That?s far less than the U.S. recommended daily allowance of 75 to 90 milligrams?75 for women, 90 for men.) Native foods easily supply those 10 milligrams of scurvy prevention, especially when organ meats?preferably raw?are on the menu. For a study published with Kuhnlein in 2002, Fediuk compared the vitamin C content of 100-gram (3.55-ounce) samples of foods eaten by Inuit women living in the Canadian Arctic: Raw caribou liver supplied almost 24 milligrams, seal brain close to 15 milligrams, and raw kelp more than 28 milligrams. Still higher levels were found in whale skin and muktuk."

In his book ?The Fat of the Land?, Vilhjalmur Stefansson recounts his experiences of living with the Inuit in the early 20th century, detailing stories of scurvy, as well as a study into the effects on health of an exclusive meat and fat diet.

According to Stefansson, the Inuit ate a higher proportion of raw or rare meat than Americans, and cooked whenever convenient. Although breakfast and lunch might consist of raw food, the evening meal was usually cooked, with an evening snack of cold cooked food. Their cooking was slow, requiring two to three hours. Frying was not practiced, roasting only occasionally used, so the normal method was boiling. However, meat was usually eaten with the heart of each piece slightly pink. The Inuit also ate a high percentage of animal fat, including bone marrow, as usually the bones themselves. Fish was also part of the diet.

On a third expedition trek to the Arctic, some of Stefansson?s men became ill with scurvy. They had disobeyed an instruction to live chiefly on fresh meat, preferring to eat stored foods. Isolated 900 miles north of the Artic Circle, Stefansson began an all-meat cure. Due to fuel scarcity they cooked once a day, and for other meals ate slightly frozen raw meat. On this limited diet the invalids fully recovered.

Comparing notes later with Dr Alfred Hess of New York, a leading authority on scurvy, Stefansson found that both had cured people of scurvy in a similar length of time, except one had used a diet without any fruits or vegetables, whilst the other had relied mainly on grated raw vegetables, fruits and fresh fruit juices. Stefansson concluded that whilst Vitamin C was undoubtedly higher in fruit and vegetables, there was sufficient in fresh or dried meat to keep humans free of scurvy.

In 1928 Stefansson undertook a year long experiment, with a colleague, at Bellevue Hospital, New York, to investigate his claims that an all meat diet can maintain good health. After a year, during which their diet had settled, by personal choice, to being 25% meat and 75% fat, their health was tested and they were not only in good health but had increased their stamina!

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